Denmark-based NKT, a leading cable and cable accessories supplier to the energy sector, is expanding its operations in India by establishing an engineering and R&D centre in Chennai.

The setting up of an engineering centre is to take advantage of the huge talent pool available in the state. The facility will initially have 50-70 people, and will be increased to 120 by the end of this year. “This number will go up further as we grow our operations here,” Alexander Kara, President & CEO of NKT A/S, said.

The global cable market is booming with the shift to green transformation in Europe and North America and  countries like India in Asia. India has big plans for renewable energy capacity addition of about 500 GW, including 60 GW of wind capacity. With our global expertise in the energy sector, we can deliver the required cables for onsite and offshore wind power projects here, he added.

Though the company is yet to make cables in India, it hopes that the proposed ambitious capacity addition in the wind sector – both onsite and offshore - will create an opportunity for it to establish a local unit in India. The Indian government has proposed establishing 5 GW offshore wind capacity by this year and 30 GW by 2030. The company is also looking at opportunities in the 5G space in the telecom industry.

“It requires huge investments to make our cables here. We need several projects to launch a local unit in India. Orders worth 10-15 GW of offshore projects will pave the way to establish a local unit, added Kara.

NKT, founded in 1891 and now employs more than 4000 people globally, is among the top 15 companies in the cable space, while it is the Number 3 globally in the high voltage cable solutions space.

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